


Progress

by yeaka



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Established Relationship, F/M, Female Bofur, Ficlet, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2015-04-28
Packaged: 2018-03-26 03:14:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3834910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bofur waits on Nori’s reaction to her pregnancy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Progress

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Fill for anon’s “Nori being super protective for whatever reason, reassuring, maybe some magic heal all sex. Like Nori and Bofur joined the quest and just before the whole troll incident Bofur realizes he's pregnant and just starting to show and before he can tell Nori they're having to go rescue Bilbo. Bofur thinks they're about to die and tells Nori while they're tied up. Author can go whatever way they want after i just need me some Nori being protective and loving to to a pregnant Bofur.” prompt on [The Hobbit Kink Meme](http://hobbit-kink.livejournal.com/11476.html?thread=23073748#t23073748).
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own The Hobbit or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

They don’t get a chance to talk until the troll cave, because the second the words, “I’m pregnant,” came out of Bofur’s mouth, trolls demanded their attention. As nice as the little fellow’s been for company up until this point, Bilbo couldn’t have picked a worse time to stumble onto trouble. And of course, all the dwarves—including a flustered Bofur and gaping Nori—had to run off to save him. After that, it was a matter of being tied up, sure they’d all die, with Nori struggling twice as hard as anyone else, leaving Bofur to wonder if he was trying to get away and run off before Bofur could talk to Thorin about setting a decree for child support. Fortunately, Bilbo got them out of the trouble they caused, Gandalf turned the trolls to stone, and they all went on their merry way to a smelly cave of treasures where Bofur half-heartedly rifles for coins and mostly side-eyes Nori.

He’s frantic. He hasn’t run off yet, which is something, but he is gathering more treasure up than anyone else, which could be a sign that he means to make his fortune before he flees. Everyone else is too exhausted from the ordeal for Bofur to feel right burdening them with her news, so she finds herself wandering out of the stifling cave to plop down on a lopsided rock, waiting for a chance to really _talk_.

They have to talk, of course, even though she put it off for as long as she could. She’s starting to show, and the excuse of ‘I’m taking after Bombur’ can only go so far. It isn’t that she’s ashamed of the child growing inside her, or that she has any regrets about it or even Nori, but it’s just that Nori can be so... _Nori_ sometimes. They haven’t quite _settled down_ yet, haven’t made anything official, and the day when Nori gives up his scandalous gallivanting seems far in the future. Prancing off to foreign brothels or looting ruins for the sake of looting is hardly feasible with a child in the picture. It isn’t that she planned to or even wanted to pin Nori down—it’s just that they were careless, and now she has no idea where they stand.

Well, she stands a little less firmly than before. Her middle’s getting heavy, and the pressure on her bladder is an increasing annoyance that takes all the fun out of not bleeding. Half the reason she wanted to tell him was so she could finally complain about it outright, because if _she’s_ she’s going to bear all the burden of _their_ child, then he’s at least going to hear about it, whether or not he wants to. 

She chose a rock by Nori’s pony, specifically so he can’t escape without going through her. Sure enough, he beelines straight there when he exits the cave, carrying two beaten down chests, one under either arm. He’s busy staring down at the forest floor, trying not to trip over roots and ferns, so he doesn’t see her until it’s much too late, and he’s already plopping the chests down before his pony. When she says, “Nori!” he nearly jumps out of his skin. 

She wants to go on pestering him—how could he have not said _anything_ about it, speechless or no?—but somehow what comes out of her mouth is, “What’re you hauling so much for when we’re going to Erebor anyway?” Not that Bofur doesn’t love treasure, because any other day she would’ve been right in that cave with him, but right now, he has a lot of nerve wasting time on such a big load when he’s got her to talk to. 

But he looks like it’s perfectly obvious, and gestures to the trunks with an insistent, “We’re not going to get to Erebor tomorrow. This is for the road, so I can take care of you and the little one.”

On instinct, she’s ready to snap at him again, but then the words catch up with her, and she’s left with her mouth hanging open. Closing it again, she can feel her cheeks turn a little pink. Suddenly, she feels foolish for thinking he’d run off without her. Having been independent all her life, she mumbles instead, “Oh. You don’t have to do that.”

“Of course I do.” Nori says, and the expression on his face vaguely reminds her of her own feelings when people say she doesn’t need to look out for Bifur all the time. It isn’t the same, but it still makes her heart clench. Nori has a weird way of doing that, whether it’s jumping into one of her songs, a quick kiss on the road, or a heartfelt confession under the sheets. In some ways, she thinks he will make a good father. 

In others, he’s ridiculous. He turns back to the pony, eyeing the saddle, like trying to figure out how to rig it up for big boxes of gold instead of riders. Sometimes she wonders if they’ll be _too_ ridiculous together—the two cheeriest of the group, with no balance for the serious. She sighs, and that draws his attention back. 

He takes a step towards her, kneels down and brushes some of her brown hair underneath her hat, then bends to peck her lips, because even when Nori tries to target her nose or forehead or cheeks, he always ends up at her mouth. She has to push him back when he gets a little too fervent, and he says with a familiar fire in his eyes, “I mean it, Bofur. I’ll take care of you. I always wanted to, but this means I will _right now._ ” He waves his hand to the side, dismissing. “No more time for being a young bachelor.”

“You’re not young,” Bofur says flatly, because she can never pass up an opportunity to tease.

Wrinkling his nose like he’s offended, Nori insists, “I’m young enough, but anyway, it doesn’t matter now, because I’m _your_ young buck.” The way he lifts his eyebrows says: ‘you’re welcome.’

She’s more pleased than she’s willing to let on. She tries not to grin too wide, but she can feel her dimples showing soon enough: familiar laugh lines that Nori exercises more than anyone else. 

Seeing it, Nori settles down in the dirt. It puts him lower than her, the tip of his tri-star hair only as high as the bottom of her tri-star hat. Putting a hand on either side of her coat, Nori ducks to peck her stomach through her dirty tunic, cooing, “You hear that, little one? Nothing’s going to happen to your mom on my watch.” While Bofur’s chuckling fondly, Nori smiles up at her and suggests, “Let’s call it Bori.”

“That’s a horrible name!”

“Better than Norfur.”

She gives him a light punch in the shoulder, and he chuckles as he gets back up to his feet, offering a hand to her. She takes it, and that leaves them both to tackle the task of fixing their new family treasure onto the pony. It leaves Bofur to wonder, “If the gold’s going here, where are you going to go?”

“I’ll ride with you, of course,” Nori chirps, “So I can hold onto you. I’ve got you, babe. If any trolls mess with us again, I’ll protect you with my own body.”

Bofur rolls her eyes, though she knows he means well. And she likes it. 

And she loves him. 

And by the time the others filter out into the open, they’re up on their pony with his arms tight around her, smoothing over her stomach like he’ll feel the kicks already, and she has to mutter, “Not now,” when he starts having _too_ much fun again.


End file.
